9 Bags of Meatless Jerky That Are Just as Good as the Real Thing

Vegan jerky is an oxymoronic and, frankly, kind of terrifying combination of words. After all, jerky is meant to be big, chewy, gnarly slices of dehydrated meat, full of umami and protein. And vegetables are, well...vegetables.

Louisville Jerky

Photo courtesy of Amazon

This vegan soy-based jerky comes in flavors like bourbon-smoked black pepper, Sriracha maple, and sesame teriyaki. It's made with soy protein, tamari, and olive oil—oh, and it's gluten-free, too. The texture on this one is spongier than the rest of the lot, and it needs to be refrigerated after opening, but the flavors are on point, hence it's popularity.

Primal foods Jerky

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Primal Foods' jerky comes in a number of flavors, with varying base ingredients—there's soy, seitan, and mushroom versions. These are less convenient for on-the-go jerky purposes, as they're pretty wet and saucy, and the texture isn't familiar, but these guys have a higher protein count than most of the others—about 10 grams per serving.

Pan's Mushroom Jerky

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Pan's Mushroom Jerky is made with—you guessed it—mushrooms, and held together with egg whites (so, unlike the rest of the list, it's not vegan; they're working on it). The texture is impressively meat-like, visibly tendon-y and string-y, but also tough enough to compare to good jerky. The flavor is also on point—it's not masked by any intense teriyaki flavor or heavy spice. This is just good, meaty mushroom jerky—my colleague Emily said that she actually prefers this to the real thing.

Mighty Bee coconut jerky

Photo courtesy of Mighty Bee

This coconut jerky, made by Mighty Bee, is made with organic ingredients and lightly sweetened with dates. It's super-fibrous and completely raw—this definitely qualifies as a health food in my book. Mighty Bee also makes a chocolate and hazelnut (ahem, Nutella) jerky. Weird? Yes. Delicious? Also yes.

Herbivorous butcher jerky

Photo courtesy of Herbivorous Butcher

The coolest butcher shop in Minneapolis (that just happens to be vegan), is The Herbivorous Butcher. They keep a butcher case stocked with vegan short ribs, sausages, and deli meats—and, luckily, they sell their faux-meats online, including a trio of vegan jerky made of vital wheat gluten. The texture isn't dead-on like some of the soy-based jerky, but the flavors—especially Sizzlin' Cajun—might be the best of the bunch.

Cocoburg coconut jerky

Photo courtesy of Cocoburg

Cocoburg's coconut jerky has one of the more approachable ingredient lists of the bunch—coconut meat, coconut aminos, and seasoning. These definitely have a coconut-y aftertaste, but it actually works well with flavors like Chili Lime.

Unisoy jerky

Photo courtesy of Amazon

These soy-based jerkies from Unisoy win for the most startlingly meat-like texture—they're tough to chew, much like gas station beef jerky (we've all been there... right?), but with more complex flavors. Go for the black pepper version.